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Read this ‘roadmap’ from the U.S. Congress. At 137 pages, it’s not light reading; but, it does shine light on where it’s all planned to be at in 5, 10, 15 years and beyond. It’s fascinating, if somewhat tedious at times.

Humanoid robot from India.

Not to be outdone, this is the first piece of robot news I’ve come across from India, since I started this blog a few weeks back. Programmed to play the ‘rock-scissor’ game, its creator sees the small humanoid as a means to investigate how robots can assist humans.

A new book – Robot Futures – from MIT professor

Everybody of course has an opinion about what robots are. Sure, they are machines, but this professor of robotics thinks they are “a new species”. Well, I’m not prepared to accept that – yet. Are you?

A humanoid robot with positive attitude

From an Italian project team, here’s an interesting and detailed look at a bipedal robot designed to be fully compliant with humans i.e. it won’t harm anything or anybody in a collision or physical encounter. Makes you feel better about companies that take that sort of care and concern with the impact of robotics in society, don’t you think?

Take in a slide show about some of the latest humanoid robots

From the cute and cuddly, I guess, to the more practical, get used to seeing robots like these more often in the news and on TV. I’m waiting for one that can act as my 24/7 servant. But, how long will I have to wait…?

A robot’s got to know its limitations

And while on the topic of mundane house work, read this piece about the difficulties in the home and discusses the complexity of the task to get a robot to even do such a job. Thankfully, the software – and hardware – will develop over time to surmount most problems. In my opinion, though, just remember that Murphy’s First Law lurks about all the time.